support Swiss representations in safeguarding Switzerland’s interests and in emergencies involving Swiss citizens abroad. In an emergency the representation responsible (embassy or consulate-general) must be contacted immediately.

Services and Visa

All consular services and visa support for people resident in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary are provided by the Regional Consular Centre Vienna.

A selection of websites explaining how Switzerland is structured and how it functions, providing you with the information you will need to form an opinion and exercise your political rights from overseas

Services

Contact the responsible Swiss representation or consulate when you want to register or unregister as a resident, when you need a new passport, have moved or wish to apply for citizenship. The entire selection of services offered can be found in the dropdown menu to the right. The contact details of the responsible Swiss representation are shown on the corresponding page.

Swiss citizens who get into difficulties abroad, also can ask for advice and help from the Swiss representative.

The magazine for the Swiss Abroad appears six times a year and provides information about what is happening at home and the activities of Swiss associations abroad. It also answers administrative questions.

Export promotion and investment protection

The federal government supports Swiss companies at home and abroad by promoting exports and protecting investment.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), in conjunction with Swiss embassies and consulates, provide a broad range of services. In recent years this has focused increasingly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Export promotion, promotion of business location Switzerland, and representation of interests

assistance with establishing contacts and arranging access to official bodies abroad

representation of the interests of Swiss companies

interventions with government authorities

In particularly important, traditional and emerging markets, the federal government operates, in collaboration with Switzerland Global Enterprise, Swiss Business Hubs that offer a wide range of services. These hubs currently exist in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK and Ireland, and the USA, as well as in Dubai for the Gulf Cooperation Council GCC and in Singapore for Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The services offered by these hubs include:

information

advice

arranging introductions to business partners

marketing

promotion of business location Switzerland

an organisation service for participation in trade fairs

The Swiss Business Hubs are attached to the official representation network of the FDFA.

The supreme objective of export promotion is to overcome existing inhibition thresholds. It also facilitates access to all foreign markets by arranging contacts and providing expert advice for Swiss companies that are capable of becoming exporters and interested in doing so, especially SMEs.

Investment protection

Swiss SMEs are currently carrying out more and more investment abroad. Comprehensive investment protection is extremely important to the Swiss economy. To date, Switzerland has concluded over 120 Investment Protection Agreements with countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. These govern:

the treatment of foreign investment by the host state

the transfer of investment earnings and other payments

compensation in the event of expropriation

the resolution of disputes.

Switzerland’s objectives in concluding these agreements are to improve the legal position of investors and to create a climate favourable to capital investment.

They make it possible to rectify shortcomings outside the area of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Swiss embassies are closely involved in negotiating these agreements.